RD: Back in the Red I
Overview Dave Lister and the crew of Starbug finally get the Red Dwarf back, but little do they expect what awaits for them inside! Summary In a cell, Lister and Rimmer have a discussion regarding Lister's recent actions in pouring a tube of something over him while Lister reads a magazine article about an elderly father. We are then shown the circumstances that led to their incarceration... Three days earlier, Kryten's nanobots had rebuilt Red Dwarf, but done so far too large. Lister enters the cockpit showing off his now non-muscular body and it emerges that the enlargement is a temporary symptom of the nanobots' restoration process as it soon turns out that Red Dwarf is shrinking around Starbug. Suddenly the ship is sucked into an air vent, and it becomes a race against time to make it to an area large enough to house the ship before it is crushed. As the Cat worries about the situation, Kochanski suggests a detour down an alternative vent. Starbug however ends up stuck up the anus of a rat briefly before it finally escapes the air shafts. With Red Dwarf nearly done shrinking, the corridors rip off Starbug's rear and middle section before the cockpit is sent flying into a cargo bay where it crash lands. With the cockpit crumbling around them, the crew manage to escape mere seconds before it explodes. Just then, the crew are approached by two figures recognised by Lister... Selby and Chen, his old drinking partners. Everyone realises that the nanobots haven't only restored Red Dwarf but also its crew. Captain Hollister then arrives with a security officer who places Lister under arrest for stealing and crashing a Starbug, flying without a pilot's licence and bringing two stowaways (Cat and Kryten) aboard. Everyone is placed in custody and Lister is confined to quarters. He then asks Holly (who is still loaded into Lister's watch and therefore hidden from Red Dwarf's crew) what will happen if they're found guilty. Holly explains that they'll get two years in the brig. Lister is confused as Red Dwarf doesn't have a brig, but Holly explains that there is a top-secret prison facility contained aboard the ship holding hundreds of inmates who were being transported to a containment facility. Unfortunately they have all been resurrected too, and they're not a nice bunch of guys. Just as he thinks things can't get any worse, Rimmer enters the bunkroom. However this is not the Rimmer that left Starbug to take on his Ace persona, but rather the Rimmer that was aboard Red Dwarf before the accident that wiped out the crew. Lister tells Rimmer the whole story and asks for help escaping. In exchange, he offers Rimmer a copy of the crew's personal and confidential files that exist on Starbug. Rimmer initially refuses, until Lister tells him that with the information he can get the promotion to officer status like he's always wanted. With this, Rimmer agrees and Lister gives him his watch which Holly has been loaded into to help him find what he needs. While the Cat is examined by the medical staff (and confuses them with his six nipples, musical heartbeat and multi-coloured intestines), Kryten is taken for psychiatric evaluation. Unfortunately, Kryten's erratic personality doesn't go over well, and he is recommended to be restored to his factory settings. Aboard the burnt out wreckage of Starbug's cockpit, Rimmer finds the disc with the crew's files. He also finds two strange tubes and asks Holly what they are. Holly explains that they are positive viruses that Lister picked up from a deranged scientist years earlier; one contains luck and the other contains sexual magnetism. Rimmer quickly tries out sexual magnetism, and walks down the corridor where all the female admire him. Rimmer notes to himself that "the world loves a bastard". Notes *Holly flashes the words "Sickbags on Standby" just as Rimmer was attracting the female members of the crew after taking the sexual magnetism virus, this could be a fourth wall breaching moment as the message was displayed as if it were addressing the audience. *Kryten is greeted by the ship's psychiatrist, Dr. Lucas McLaren. In "Queeg", Rimmer turns into Brannigan, who is identified by Lister as the ship's psychiatrist. Interestingly enough, Brannigan and McLaren have similar high-pitched-sounding voices, presenting a missed opportunity for continuity. *Although the series is now once again being videotaped, a brief shot of the Cat in a recap from Nanarchy is shown on film. *Kochanski's hair causes a continuity error. Although the story is supposed to take place immediately after Nanarchy, Kochanski sports a completely different hairstyle and hair colour, not to mention waistline, than what she had at the end of the preceding episode. *An hour-long edit of the three-part story, released to DVD, includes lines of dialogue that more clearly explain why Red Dwarf is initially so large, as well as explaining why aspects of the ship do not match what was seen in earlier seasons (Lister even references the fact his old quarters have changed slightly). Noteworthy Dialogue *'Holly: (after Starbug in a rapidly shrinking Red Dwarf flies into a rat while flying through the air vent) '''I hope we don't get stopped by the cops. They don't like it when you're rat-arsed! Background Information The opening episode was originally planned as an hour-long special. This would give the show the opportunity to introduce the new setup. However the episode overran and the opener turned into a three-part story. Guest Stars *Mac McDonald reprised his Captain Hollister character. *Paul Bradley and David Gillespie returned as Lister's drinking buddies. *Andy Taylor played Counsellor McClaren, the ship's psychiatrist. *Karl Glenn Stimpson played MP Thornton. *Kika Mirylees appeared as CMO Karen Newton. References ''Other articles of things featured in this particular episode Category:Series VIII Episodes Category:Episodes